Cummings opens season with win

Senior Keith McAdoo was expected to lead the Cummings High School offense this season after losing three running backs to graduation.

Mission accomplished.

McAdoo completed 16 of 29 passes for 220 yards and four touchdowns to spark Cummings to a 47-24 victory against visiting West Montgomery on Friday night in the season opener.

“It’s exactly what we were hoping for out of him,” said Cummings coach Steve Johnson. “A year ago, when he first started as the varsity quarterback, we kind of hog-tied him and didn’t let him throw the ball very much. And this year, we decided we’re going to turn him loose and let him throw it a lot.”

It worked out well, starting in the Cavaliers’ second drive. After an Andres Torain interception of West Montgomery junior quarterback Caleb Drake, McAdoo drove Cummings 32 yards, ending on a 20-yard pass to Mosi Williams to put the Cavaliers up 6-0.

It was the first of two touchdown catches for the junior wideout, who finished with six receptions for 96 yards. Cavaliers senior receiver Dedric Bowman grabbed four passes for 83 yards and two scores. In all, McAdoo found six different receivers on the night.

The quarterback credited his protectors and his wideouts for the success and the confidence he displayed in the pocket.

“(The offensive line) get their guys together and I get my receivers together,” he said. “We’re young, but know how to make plays, so I’ve got confidence in them and feel good throwing the ball.”

Johnson worked receivers in and out of the game at will in an effort to wear out the Warriors.

“That was our thinking,” he said. “I think it worked for us very well. That’s one of those areas I think we can build on.”

An area where the Cavaliers struggled was run defense. The Warriors put up 347 yards on the ground, getting 140 yards and a touchdown from Drake and 113 yards and a score from junior running back Suave Pegues.

“That’s the part we’ve got to revamp,” Johnson said. “Our defense was not very stellar, not in the Cummings tradition. We can use the old adage of ‘Oh, we were young, we replaced 10 starters,’ but that’s no excuse for missing tackles. There’s no excuse for giving poor effort. Those are the things we’re going to have to look at and address.”

Drake had very mixed results in his first varsity start. He led his team in rushing yards and completed 3 of 8 passes for 44 yards and a touchdown to junior receiver Tirea Sims, but fumbled the ball three times and threw the pick that led to the first Cummings touchdown.

“As he continues to grow, he’s going to get better, I’ll tell you that,” West Montgomery coach Nick Eddins said. “He did some good things, he did some not so good things. But that was to be expected in his first varsity start. I’m very proud of him.”

The Warriors had six fumbles, losing three of them, including a fumble on a kick return that led to a 24-yard touchdown pass from McAdoo to Mosi Williams that put the Cavaliers up 26-14 with two minutes left in the first half, a lead they would not relinquish.

“It’s something that’s hindered us a little bit that we’ve got to clean up,” Eddins said. “We played hard. That was a daggone good football team right there. We ain’t far behind them, but we’ve got to clean over the turnover aspect of it, for sure.”

Cummings also got three rushing touchdowns from sophomore receiver Tevin Smith, and senior back Devante Gainey picked up 75 yards and a touchdown on the ground.